For good digestion, energy, and maintaining a healthy weight, I’ve always started my day following a few simple guidelines. I think it’s especially important to maintain healthy habits during the Holiday season when many of our good intentions get thrown to the winds! Of course we’re going to eat more goodies – actually more food period, however, we don’t want to sail into 2012 feeling heavy, sluggish and in need of a dramatic detox. Establish or maintain healthy habits now and you’ll feel so much better throughout the month of December.
As we are so busy and overwhelmed coming into the Holidays, I believe that how you start your day sets the tone for the next 12 hours. Get out of bed the wrong side, and you pay the price. So here’s what I do to give myself a fighting chance.
- Cleanse Your Body: As soon as you wake up, drink either 8 ounces of room temperature water with the juice of half a lemon, or 2 ounces of organic aloe vera juice added to 6 ounces of room temp water.
- Meditate: If you have a practice, now’s the time, even if it’s 5 minutes to say hello to something greater than you and to ask for guidance and strength. If you don’t have a practice, you might want to try John Douillard’s One Minute Meditation. One minute is better than nothing. Stress just causes us to overeat and generally to not take care of ourselves as we should.
- Eat a good hearty breakfast: If you are going to exercise, it’s far better that you eat a hearty breakfast before your workout. If you don’t have time to exercise, you’ll probably find a spare 20 minutes in the day to go for a brisk walk. Favorite winter breakfasts of mine include: My Protein Pancakes, homemade granola, orange bran muffins, homemade yogurt and seasonal fruit, sprouted grain toast and eggs (recipes for all the above and more are in The Gorgeously Green Diet).
- Eat Slowly: You will not digest your food properly if you rush, eat standing up or while checking your emails. My digestion is so much better when I actually sit down with my daughter and thoroughly chew my food (not easy when all I want to do is multitask).
- Supplement: Remember to take your supplements right after your breakfast, as it’s much better to ingest them along with food, unless it’s a greens supplement or something like Power For Life, which can be taken anytime. I take Nordic Naturals Omega Oils, Life Spa Vitamin D supplement, and the life changer for me was Power For Life, which I mix into a glass of Emergen- C MSM, and then I’m set for the day. If my energy levels are really low and/or I’m craving sugar, I take another tablespoon of Power For Life, mixed into a little apple juice in the afternoon.
- Good To Remember: Fill a reusable water bottle up with filtered water and a squeeze of lemon juice whether you’re leaving the house or not. It will remind you to drink water throughout the day, which we often forget in the Winter months.
- Make your lunch: I’m so much happier if I make my lunch before I leave the house. If I’m at home, I hate to have to stop what I’m doing to prepare lunch for myself and if I’m on the go, I’m more likely to reach for an unhealthy bagel or sandwich, rather than my lovely homemade salad and soup, which I’ve bought along with me.
Even if you have the most stressful day ahead of you, by giving yourself a good strong start, you’re much more likely to sustain good energy levels and have a happier, more productive day.
